Pages

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Squirrel's Nut Cache - 4/23/2011

A Saturday Nut Special!

The Nut Cache - a collection of recent things I found interesting, or amusing, or nutworthy.

I don't know about you, but I find the combination of pride and ignorance amusing. Especially when the combination is found in a governing body. You may be familiar with famous examples, like the Indiana General Assembly's attempt in 1897 to legislate the value of π. Or the 1998 motion by an Australian MP to impose a global ban on Dihydrogen Monoxide. Now, it seems, in 2011, the government of the African nation of Malawi bids to join the ranks of legislative bodies that make you go "Huh?" by making flatulence a criminal act.

Every area of the planet has it's own dangers to be watched out for. As I endure the winters in Montana, I often think that it would be nice to live someplace warm, and I imagine pastoring a church is some tropical paradise where I can wear sandals on Christmas day instead of snow boots... And then I read a story like this...

Ever since it was erected in 1886, the Statue of Liberty has stood in New York harbor as an enduring symbol of freedom. Many Americans are decedents from immigrants who's first sight of America was the view of the Statue of Liberty from the deck of a ship. And there are many of America's sons who were welcomed home from war by that same sight of Lady Liberty's upraised torch. The Statue of Liberty is such an iconic figure that it is no surprise that she has appeared on many US postage stamps. But, if you were going to issue a new postage stamp featuring a photograph of the Statue of Liberty, wouldn't it be a good idea to actually use a picture of the real Statue of Liberty? Oops!

I remember, back during the Cold War, whenever the Soviet Union bothered to publicly deny something, it was usually true. And, while the Soviet Union has been, as Ronald Reagan predicted, consigned to the "dust-bin of history" for about the last 20 years, that attitude of doubting official pronouncements by the government of Russia has stayed with me. Therefore, I really have no idea what, exactly, to make of this...

Russian Cosmonauts may not be having sex in space, and Canadian dentists don't seem to be, either. At least if their spouse is also their patient. Canadian regulations regarding physical relations between health professionals and their patients are, it seems, without exception.

Sluggy Freelance

WARNING: Sluggy Freelance is a quirky, offbeat, secular comic strip for grown-ups. It is not an "adult" cartoon, but it is PG-13, and not for children. I think it's funny, and that's probably a sign of my own depravity. Yes, the bunny is cute, but he's homicidal, OK?